Your Sarasota home’s water heater performs the crucial function of supplying hot water to your sinks, bathtubs, dishwasher, and more. It’s easy to take your water heater for granted until it stops working properly. Fortunately, there’s a simple maintenance task that you can do yourself to help reduce the risk of a water heater malfunction and can even lengthen the life of your water heater. By performing a basic tank flush by following these instructions from Next Level Plumbing, you can remove the sediment that prevents your water heater from operating efficiently.
Why Flushing Is Necessary
Sarasota and the surrounding areas have hard water. This means that the water has minerals dissolved in it. While these minerals normally don’t cause problems, they do cause problems when the water sits in your water heater. Over time, as the water heater heats the water, some of the minerals stay behind in the tank. Eventually, the minerals will accumulate to the point that they cover the heating elements or heat exchanger in your water heater. This leads to inefficient heating, a shortened tank life, and other problems. That’s why it’s vital to flush your tank yourself or let Next Level Plumbing do the job for you.
Making It Safe
The first step in flushing a tank is to make the tank safe. To do this, you’ll need to turn off the gas or electric supply to the tank so that the tank doesn’t overheat when it’s empty. Most water heaters have a temperature knob that you can turn to the “off” position to shut down the flame in the water heater. You may also need to close the gas valve to prevent a buildup of unburned gas.
Draining the Tank
Before draining the tank, make sure to turn off the cold water supply so that you don’t waste any water while you’re draining your tank. Next, you’ll want to attach a hose to the drain spigot located near the bottom of the water heater. Make sure to route this hose to a floor drain or outside so that you don’t flood your utility area. With the hose in place, you can turn on the spigot and allow the tank to drain completely.
Multiple Washes
Since some of the mineral deposits in your tank will likely be stuck to the wall of the water heater, Next Level Plumbing recommends performing multiple washes to get the tank as clean as possible. To perform a second wash, turn off the drain spigot and wait until no water is coming out of the hose. Then, turn the cold water supply back on for a few minutes to allow the water heater to fill halfway. Finally, repeat the draining process detailed above. Continue washing your water heater until the water that comes out of the drain is clear.
Refilling the Tank
Once you’re sure that the tank is clean, it’s time to refill it. Turn off the drain spigot and remove the hose. Then, turn the cold water supply back on and allow the tank to fill completely. When the tank is full, you can restore the gas supply to the tank and ignite the burner to begin heating the water. Make sure to allow a few hours for the water to heat up before using any hot water. The heating process will likely take longer than normal because you’re essentially starting from scratch.
Back to Normal Operation
After flushing your water heater, you might notice some mineral deposits coming through your plumbing fixtures. Unfortunately, these deposits can block the aerators on your kitchen and bathroom faucets. To prevent this problem, Next Level Plumbing recommends removing the aerator from one of your faucets and letting the water run for a while. This will allow all of the mineral deposits to work their way out of the water supply line so that you can enjoy normal system operation.
Helping You Maintain Your Water Heater
At Next Level Plumbing, we take pride in helping our customers take care of their plumbing systems. To help with this, we offer drain cleaning, faucet, and toilet repair and replacement, water heater maintenance, repair, and installation, sewer line repair, and much more. We work hard to treat every customer with integrity and professionalism. That’s why we’re rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and consistently receive five-star customer reviews. To learn more about maintaining your home’s plumbing system, contact us at Next Level Plumbing today.
